Nucleases as molecular targets for cancer diagnosis

Abstract

Early cancer diagnosis is a crucial element to improved treatment options and survival. Great research efforts have been made in the search for better performing cancer diagnostic biomarkers. However, the quest continues as novel biomarkers with high accuracy for an early diagnosis remain an unmet clinical need. Nucleases, which are enzymes capable of cleaving nucleic acids, have been long considered as potential cancer biomarkers. The implications of nucleases are key for biological functions, their presence in different cellular counterparts and catalytic activity led the enthusiasm towards investigating the role of nucleases as promising cancer biomarkers. However, the most essential feature of these proteins, which is their enzymatic activity, has not been fully exploited. This review discusses nucleases interrogated as cancer biomarkers, providing a glimpse of their physiological roles. Moreover, it highlights the potential of harnessing the enzymatic activity of cancer-associated nucleases as a novel diagnostic biomarker using nucleic acid probes as substrates.

Keywords: Nuclease; Nuclease activity; Nucleic acid probes, novel diagnostics; cancer biomarkers; cancer diagnostics.

Fig. 1

Cancer-associated nucleases and nuclease activity: nucleases are expressed intracellularly, extracellularly, or on the cell membrane in cancer cells. The catalytic activity of cancer nucleases could be harnessed in cancer detection using activatable nucleic acid probes as substrates

Fig. 2

Nucleases and cancer types: Each nuclease, resembled by a specific color, is linked to the respective cancer type(s) for which it is reported. The cancer types are represented and indicated in the human body outline